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Monday, August 3, 2015

An Okra Recipe? YES! Don't Run Away! It's Good! By Donna Fasano

It’s August here in the United States and that means fresh
vegetables are in abundance. I visited a local farmer’s market yesterday and
found a huge basket of okra. Now, I use (and love!) frozen okra in my
winter soups and stews, but I’ve only cooked fresh okra a couple of times.

Many people shy away from cooking and/or eating okra because
it can be unappealingly slimy if it’s not prepared correctly. Despite its
reputation, okra can be incredibly delicious and super healthy. It’s low
in calories. One cup of raw okra has only 33 calories, and that serving size is
packed with a whopping 66% of the RDA of Vitamin K. Okra is also high
is calcium, fiber, vitamin C, protein, folate, manganese, and magnesium. I
think that makes okra a super-food veggie!

Come on now. Don’t wrinkle up your nose like that. Try it! I
roasted this okra and it turned out delicious.

2. In a large bowl, coat the okra evenly with the olive oil.
Spread okra out in a single layer on your oven’s broiling pan. Season with salt
and pepper.

3. Roast for 15-20 minutes, or until the ends of the okra
are slightly golden.

Enjoy!

Do you shop at local farmers markets? What’s YOUR favorite
fresh veggie? Feel free to share the recipe in the comment section below.

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About the author: Donna Fasano is a USA Today Bestselling
Author who has written over 30 romance and women’s fiction titles. Her books have won awards, have been translated into nearly two dozen languages, and have sold four million copies worldwide. To learn more about Donna, visit her blog, or find her on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. Are you an avid romance
reader? Join Donna’s Street Team: The Prima Donnas.

I have never eaten okra. It's not a huge thing here in Wisconsin. ;) Maybe if I see some at the farmer's market, I'll give this recipe a try.

My favorite thing to buy at a farmer's market is fresh green beans and I don't do a thing to them except wash them. I love them raw! When I was a kid, my friend and I would sneak into neighbor's gardens and snag a handful at this time of year, then eat them. We never thought to wash them, so I wonder how many little bugs I ate at the same time? (It was dark when we'd go on our bean hunting missions)

I've never tried green beans raw, Mary. I usually stir fry them in olive oil with a little garlic. I love them! I, too, used to "eat from the garden." My friend's mother planted a huge garden and she let us have free reign. So I probably ate my share of bugs too. :)

This sounds good, Donna. I'm going to try it. Having been raised by a couple of southerners, fried okra is the taste of summer to me, though this looks healthier than the breaded-in-cornmeal version I'm used to.

I love okra! We don't get enough of it in our area, but I grew up in the south so it was always on our table. I don't find cooking or baking relaxing at all, but I do it for my family. I find baking more tedious than cooking so baking is done less often. Yesterday I made a batch of gluten free molasses cookies for my daughter. I loved how they turned out! http://www.food.com/recipe/soft-molasses-cookies-63981 I just substituted all purpose flour with garbanzo bean flour and used 1/2 a tsp of salt instead of 1 tsp. Enjoy!

Sounds like a very simple recipe Donna, my son loves okra too. We call it Bhindi here and he likes it sautéed with some garlic and onion along with spices such as turmeric, cumin, and coriander powder.